Short answer. Yes. Article 2022 of the Civil Code expressly allows an annuity to be constituted on one person's life and paid to a completely different person. The measuring life and the income recipient are separate roles that can be filled by separate individuals, as long as all measuring lives are alive when the annuity is created.
What the law says
It may also be constituted in favor of the person or persons upon whose life or lives the contract is entered into, or in favor of another or other persons.
Civil Code, Article 2022 — On Whose Life the Annuity Rests. Read the full provision →
Two separate roles in a life annuity
A life annuity involves at least two distinct functions. The first is the measuring life — the person whose survival keeps the obligation running. The second is the income beneficiary — the person who actually collects the payments. Article 2022 makes clear that these do not have to be the same individual. The annuity can be constituted on the life of the grantor, on a third person's life, or on multiple lives — and the income can flow to the measuring life itself or to a different person entirely.
Multiple measuring lives are permitted
Article 2022 also allows an annuity to rest on the lives of various persons, not just one. An annuity running for as long as any of three named individuals survives is valid under this provision. The requirement is that all of the persons on whose lives the annuity is constituted must be living at the time the annuity is established. A measuring life that is already dead at signing cannot anchor the contract — and as a separate rule, a measuring life that dies within twenty days of signing due to a pre-existing illness renders the annuity void.
Common arrangements this enables
This flexibility allows several practical structures. A grandparent can set up an annuity on their own life, with income payable to a grandchild. Parents can create an annuity measured against a child's life, with a spouse as the income recipient. A donor can establish an annuity on a third party's life for the benefit of a charitable institution. The Civil Code does not restrict who can serve in each role, beyond requiring that all measuring lives be alive at the time of constitution and that the contract meet the general requirements for validity.
Implications when the measuring life and recipient are different people
When the measuring life and the income recipient are different people, the recipient's own survival does not end the obligation. If the recipient dies while the measuring life is still alive, the obligation may pass to the recipient's heirs — depending on how the annuity was structured and whether it was personal or transmissible. Equally, if the measuring life dies while the recipient is still living, the obligation ends regardless of the recipient's wishes. This makes the identity of the measuring life the crucial detail: when that person dies, the income stops. Knowing clearly who fills each role in your annuity arrangement is essential to understanding your rights.